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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Tell it to the Trees

Okay for you guys wondering what I am talking about its- Anita Rau Badami's "Tell it to the Trees" - new novel.

Reference to the crows comes from another book "Crow Lake" by Mary Lawson.

Crow Lake is about a young girl, living in an isolated rural community trying to come to terms with her parent's sudden death in a car crash. Closely woven in this tale is that of an violently abusive father. The countryside is beautiful, lonely and cold...

Tell it to the Trees - no surprises here - is about a young girl whose mother is killed in a car accident. Closely woven in this tale is that of an violently abusive father. The countryside is beautiful, lonely and cold...

There is a depth of emotion, a delicate balance of sibling dynamics and a magnificent use of winter weather in "Crow Lake". Above all the novel ends awash in a resurgence of hope and successfully ties up loose ends in a subtle yet satisfying manner.

Unfortunately "Tell it to the Trees" has none of that intelligent plotting or story telling. The sickening element makes further mockery of the book. The only good thing I can say about it is that yep Badami knows how to construct good sentences - but that is about it.

Not really, but you do get a sense of deja vu when you read Badami's novel. Also, I don't think that a writer of her repute would stoop to plagiarizing what is one of Canada's better known works. Her books are not too bad, but this one was too sickening to stomach.